Dance music attracted composers for centuries ---- can you imagine a world without dance or music? Probably not!

Bartok wrote his Rumanian Dances after researching for years the folk music of his native Hungary and the
surrounding areas. Prokofiev took a difficult task in composing music for Ballet after the great works of his predecessor, Tchaikovsky, and he picked a very well-known story by Shakespeare ---- Romeo and Juliet.
Debussy did not have his Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun planned as dance music but the great Russian dancer, Nijinsky, was captivated by the beauty of this piece and decided to choreograph it after the premiere. We close this program with a rousing piece by Spanish composer, Manuel de Falla, a suite from his famous ballet The Three Cornered Hat based on a well-known funny story by Pedro Antonio de Alarcon.